Little Gem Salad with Pistachios and Herbs

The best part of this dish is that the leaves here are intact, so they don’t get dressed in a conventional way—kind of a more elegant wedge salad. Plus, we snuck butter into your salad, so be grateful.

Ingredients

4 servings

4

heads of Little Gem lettuce, halved lengthwise

1

cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
Kosher salt

1

large egg yolk

¾

cup raw pistachios, chopped, divided

2

Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
Extra-virgin olive oil (for drizzling)
Freshly ground black pepper

2

cups chervil

1

cup sliced chives

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Remove outer leaves of Little Gems heads until you get 8 same-size, uniform little halves of lettuce; reserve outer leaves.

    Step 2

    Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add reserved lettuce; season with salt. Cook, stirring, until wilted, about 1 minute. Transfer leaves and butter to a blender. Add egg yolk and ¼ cup pistachios and blend until smooth and creamy. Season with salt. (It should be the consistency of yellow mustard. You can add more pistachios if it’s too thin, or water if its too thick.)

    Step 3

    Crush remaining ½ cup pistachios in a food processor or with a knife.

    Step 4

    Drizzle lettuce halves with lemon juice and oil; season with salt and pepper. Drizzle pistachio cream over. Top with chervil, chives, and crushed pistachios.

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